Mercenary Germanic Pikes

A wall of pikes is an excellent defence, but is difficult to manoeuvre.

Once use of the pike in battle had spread to the west, it was adopted by many of the barbarian tribes. As an extension of the popular 'shield wall' formation, emergent barbarian pike tactics had similarities to the phalanx combat of the Greek city-states and the Macedonian pike reforms that won half the world for Alexander the Great. However, tribal pike troops fought far more defensively than the Greeks, especially with the advent of heavy cavalry such as lancers and their supplanting of the more traditional barbarian infantry charge with brutal shock tactics. Gradually, pikes became a popular defensive choice all over northern Europe; the Norsemen used them in a similar, circular formation of around 1,000 men in a tightly-packed mass, designed to stop enemy cavalry charges dead in their tracks. This also likely gave rise to the later ‘schiltron’ or ‘shield troop’ formation commonly used by Scottish medieval armies.

Unit Name

Mercenary Germanic Pikes

Main Unit Key

att_merc_ger_germanic_pikes

Land Unit Key

att_merc_ger_germanic_pikes

Naval Unit Key

att_lon_heavy_tra_ger

Soldiers

160

Category

Melee Infantry

Class

Pike Infantry

Custom Battle Cost

160

Recruitment Cost

120

Upkeep Cost

130

Melee Attack

16

Melee Damage

11

├ Melee Weapon

att_pike

├ Melee Base Damage

1

├ Armour-piercing Damage

10

├ Armour Piercing

No

├ Attack Against Cavalry

0

├ Attack Against Elephants

0

└ Attack Against Infantry

0

Charge Bonus

21

Melee Defence

37

├ Base Defence

7

├ Shield

att_round_small

└ Shield Defence

30

Armour

8

├ Armour

att_cloth

├ Armour Defence

3

└ Shield Armour

5

Health

80

├ Man Entity

att_infantry_very_light

├ Man Health

75

└ Bonus Hit Points

5

Morale

32

Abilities

Mercenary Germanic Pikes

Pike WallThe unit moves into a deep, close defensive formation.

Attributes

Resistant to FatigueFatigue has less of an effect on this unit.

Hide (forest)This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.